World’s first ‘Tesla town’ coming to Melbourne
A Melbourne suburb is on its way to become the first town in the world where every house will be powered by solar panels, inverters and Tesla’s battery storage solutions.
This new suburb, dubbed YarraBend, will be located 6.5 kilometres from Melbourne CBD and built on the Alphington Paper Mill site.
The 2,500-dwelling area is expected to kick off construction with 60 environmentally friendly homes. These properties will be constructed with rooftop solar and Tesla Powerwall installed in the home - this means solar plus battery will be a non-optional standard inclusion for homebuyers in YarraBend.
The Tesla powerpacks are not a sales gimmick but part of a "sustainable" approach aimed at achieving the highest possible rating under the Urban Development Institute of Australia's Envirodevelopment scheme, Glenvill development director Travers Nuttall told the SMH.
In addition to solar power, these houses will also include low-energy lighting and appliances to support sustainable energy.
The next stages of the project are likely to include apartments, townhouses and riverside mansions with similar eco-friendly features. The community will also focus on features such as car share and electric car charge points.
Homes with three to five bedrooms are going to range from around $1.48 million to $2.2 million and residents are expected to begin moving in by late 2017.
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